Automatic air-regulating device for casoline engines



E. F. 'INGLES.

AUTOMATIC AIR REGULATING DEVICE FOR GASOLINE ENGINES. APPLICATION FILEDJUNE 25,1919.

1,408,353. Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE r. menus, o1? cnIonGo, IL INoIs.

Application filed June '25,

T 0 all 10 Zwmt may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE l incurs, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Chicago, in the county .of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticAir- Begulating Devices for -Gasoline Engines, ofwhgich the following isa specification.

"My invention relates to means for automatically regu;l ating .theamount of air supplied to the explosive mixture YVlI lCll lS injected orsucked into the explosion chamber in explosive engines and the like, andmy invention is specially designed to automatically furnish thecorrectamountof air to the explosive mixture to provide the highest explosiveefficiency in .the' explosion chamher at 1 4 51 speeds.

AnotherIob-ject of my said invention is to provide means for adn'ttjngcold air into said mixture, when 'the adn ission of suchcold-airay'l'lincrease the efiiciency of such explosive mixture.

Another object of 'mysaid invention, is to provide -means "for admittingsteam or v moist v'a;por into said explosive mixture whenever theadmission of such'steam or moist vapor will increase the explosiveefficiency of saidmixture.

In most internal combustion engines, the gasoline is sucked into theexplosive chamber by the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the pistonfrom the headof the cylinder. It will be apparent thatthe suction is thelowest when the engine is running at the slowest speed, and that thesuction increases as the speed increases. Thus it will be seen thatthe'increased suction draws into the explosion chamber the increasedamount of gasoline required as the speed of the .engineincreases. As theamount of air ad.- mitted to the explosive. mixture should be keptat auniformproportion to the gasoline content, it will be apparent that theamount .of-air should :be increased as the amount of explosive gasolinecontent is increased It will also be apparent, that if the size of theair intake is adjusted to provide a suitable volume .of air for theengine when ainning at .its lowest speed, that such air intake will betoo small to supply the air required when said engine is running at itshighest speed also, it thesiz e of the ,air intake openinghis properlyadjusted to supply the amount of air required when the engine is runningat its highest speed, it

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb 28" 1922,

1919. serial No. 306,754.

will supply too much air, when the engine 1s running at its slowestspeed. To overcome these difiiculties, means :have heretofore beenprovided or opening and closing the air intake by some means operated byhand of the operator. lVh-ile these means do fairly well on allstationary engines, and marine engines, where the speed is kept at auniform rate after one regulating, they are of very imperfect controlwhen employed on automobiles, where the speed is being continuouslychanged to conform to the speed'of trafiic or the conditions of theroad, and it is usual to seeengines attaining not more than halftheirteiiiciency. and often emitting a dense cloud of smoke due :to poorcombustion through lack of a properly regulated explosive mixture. Bythe Special construction-employed in my said invention, the engineautomatically selects the amount of air required co-provide the mostsuitable mixture :at all speeds and requires no thought or'attention ofthe opera-tor, and secures to the engine the highest ,efiiciency,withontavaste or loss from too rich a mixture.

attain thesevobjects, and the other ,objects hereinafter moreparticularly set storth, by means of the specialconstrnction shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which? Figure 1 shows a section viewofmysaid device. l

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the valve seat and air passage.

Figure 3 shows asection 'view of theicon- .duit. on line 1.-1 of Fig.1,'

Figure 4 shows the valve ,and port for admitting cold air to theconduit. 7

In the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference referto similar parts throughout said drawings, 1 repreingress-section, asshown in Figure 3, with rectangular.by-passaround the valve at 16.

Within the conduit v1 1 have provided the valve seatet, with the port 5therein. This valveseat is preferably, formed at an angle t the. perpendcula a -shownla o h pe uli hape a sh n, 'w t a rounded port below, and asmaller port above, connected by a narrower passage having parallelsides 5 to provide a guideway and sup port for the valve 6 mountedtherein. The port 5 consists of a circular lower portion, a narrow upperconnecting portion and an upper reduced circular portion communicateswith the by-pass 16, and the valve seat 4: extends around the lowercircular portion of the port 5 and terminates at opposite sides of thenarrow passage as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawing. An upperseat portion 4? is provided at the said upper reduced circular portionof the port to cooperate with the upper portion of the valve. The sidewalls of the conduit form circular enlargements or crimps at the saidnarrow upper connecting portion of the port and the said portions orenlargements reinforce the conduit at the pivot of the valve. The valve6 is constructed with a lower portion 7 suitably weighted, and ofsuitable size and shape to properly cover the lower portion of the port5, when said valve is at restupon said valve seat and port. The upperportion of the valve at 8 is also preferably made of a suitable size andshape to cover the upper portion of the port 5 when said valve is atrest upon the valve seat of said port. At 9 the neck of said valve isadapted to'fit the narrowed portion of the port 5 and'move backward andforward therein, and be guided thereby that it may more accuratelyadjust itself to the surface of the valve seat. A pin 10 is provided inthe walls of the con duit 1, which passes through the valve at 11, andupon which the said valve rotates backward and forward in its operation.At 12 I have provided a cold air port in the conduit 1, with the valve13 adjustably mounted to cover all or a portion of said port, as desiredin operation. At 14: I have provided a con nection for admitting steamor moist vapor to the conduit, when desircd, and the valve 15 foropening and closing said opening as desired 111 operation. Th1sconnection is suited for connection with any suitable source of steam ormoist vapor supply (not shown) by means of a. flexible hose or pipe.

As ordinarily constructed, the by-pass 16 is made of suitable size tosupply the required amount of air for the engine in starting, and whilerunning at its slowest speed, without opening the valve 6. In usualoperation, the port 12 is closed, and the steam connection let is alsoclosed. rests upon the valve seat, closing the port 5 when theengine isat rest. When the engine is started, the amount of air required for themixture cnters the air intake by means of the by-pass and around theport and valve in the conduit. Whenever the speed of engine exceeds thatat whichthe by-pass will furnish a sufiicient amount of air for themixture, the suction from the The valve, 6

engine overcomes the weight of the valve 6 and lifts it more or lessfrom its seat, admltting more or less air, as it is raised higher, orlowered. It will be apparent, that the faster the engine runs, thegreater will be the suction against the valve, and wider it will beopened, to admit the greater amount of air required for the engine atthe higher speed. It will also be apparent that as soon as the speed ofthe engine is reduced, the weight of the valve will lower it to theposition where the suction of the engine just counterbalances itsweight. Thus, automatically, the valve opens or closes in harmony wit-hthe higher or lower speed of the engine, thereby regulating the amountof ear admitted to conform to the speed and mixture required by theengine. It will also be seen that my device operates entirely bygravity, and that there are no springs, or other delicate or intricatearts liable to get out of order or become injured or displaced inoperation. I I

Whenever the conditions of the atmosphere or weather are such that theadmission of cold air into the'explosive mixture will increase itsexplosive efiiciency, the valve 13 is opened more or less, as desired,to admit the desirable amount of cold air into the conduit and airintake.

Also, whenever the conditions of the air, or weather are such that theintroduction of moist vapor, or steam into the explosive mixture willincrease its explosive value, the *valve 15 is opened, and steamer moistvapor from said connection is introduced into the conduit and airintake, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: V 1. Inan air regulatingdevice for gasoline engines, the combination of an air conduit connectedwith the intake ,manifold; a double valve seat in said conduit; :1 portin said valve seat; a pivotally mounted valve adjacent said valve seat;a by-pass around said valve seat substantially as shown and described yr 2; In an air regulating device for gasoline engines, the combinationof an air conduit connected with the intake manifold; a double valveseat withinsaid conduit having a narrow guideway between the seatshaving plane side walls; a double valve pivotally mounted in saidguideway adjacent said valve seats; a by-pass around said va-he seats.all substantially as shown and for the-purposes described. y y

. 3. An regulating device for gasoline engines, comprising an airconduit connecting with, a manifold; a double valve seat in said conduitinclined'at an angle to the per. pendicular with a narrow guidewaytherea between; a double valve pivotally mounted in said guideway andadapted to normally" engage said valve seats to close the ports; a

by-pass around said valve seat, all substan tially as shown, and for thepurposes described.

4:. An air regulating device for gasoline engines comprising an airconduit; :1 double valve seat in said conduit with a narrow guidewaybetween the separate seats; an offset chamber in said conduit adjacentsaid valve seats forming a by-pass around said seats; a double valvepivotally mounted in the guideway and adapted to normally engage saidvalve seats and to close the ports, all substantially as shown and forthe purposes described.

5. An air regulating device for gasoline engines, comprising an airconduit; a double valve seat having a double port therein, the two seatsbeing connected by a narrow passage forming a guideway; a rectangularoil'- set chamber in said conduit adjacent said valve seat and forming asupplemental air passage around said seats and a weighted double valvemounted adjacent said seats in the chamber in the guideway therebetweenand adapted to be guided thereby during opening and closing of the seatssubstantially as shown and described.

6. An air regulating device for gasoline engines, comprising an airconduit; a double valve seat having a double port connected by anarrow'guideway; a rectangular offset chamber in said conduit adjacentsaid valve seat and forming a supplemental air passage around said seat;a weighted double valve mounted adjacent said seat in said chamber inthe annular guideway and adapted to be guided thereby during opening andclosing; a separate port for admitting cold air and a valve for closingsaid port; a third opening for admitting steam to said conduit, and avalve for opening and closing said opening, all substantially as shownand described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature at the cityof Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, in the presence of twowitnesses.

EUGENE F. INGLES.

Witnesses e M. J. PADDoN, Cnnsrna W. BROWN.

